Key Lime Ice Cream

The heat has still not left the Washington D.C. area...and that means more cool food.

This is one of my favorite homemade ice cream recipes. I found the base for this recipe in a cookbook my wife gave me as a gift a couple years ago, but have been tinkering with it to make it even better. One of the great things about this ice cream is that it is one of those desserts that you don't need to have alot of in order to feel like you have enjoyed it. The tartness of the key lime juice mixed with he sweetness of the graham crackers allows you to be satisfied with only a scoop or two (unlike fresh berries which I will continue to eat till they are all gone).

I made this dessert for a little dinner some friends made for me and my wife. They made a great chicken curry along side some kebobs. Talk about good food, I need to get the recipes. The meal had both spice and heat to it and, though I love food with a lot of kick to it the wife and I were glad to find that yogurt was included to temper the heat when it got a little much. It took a bit of thinking to come up with a dessert that could go along with such strong flavors and I think this ice cream held up well.

Ingredients for Key Lime Ice Cream

3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup key lime juice
4 graham crackers, broken into small pieces

Music: Ladytron's following albums. "Witching Hour" and "Light and Magic"

Process for Key Lime Ice Cream

In a bowl, whisk eggs with sugar until thickened and pale yellow

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, bring milk and cream to a simmer. Gradually whisk into the egg mixture

Return entire mixture to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let it boil. Strain into a clean large bowl and let cool to room temperature.

Stir in lime juice. Cover and refrigerate until its completely cool

Stir cream cream mixture. Transfer to Ice cream mixer and freeze according to your mixers instructions.

Add graham crackers in the last five minutes of mixing and let the machine stir them in.


So what music goes well with Key Lime Ice Cream? For me that would be the band Ladytron. Hailing from Liverpool, Ladytron has been around for a long time. I didn't find out about them till 2003 with their album "Light and Magic". This was followed up with their album "Witching Hour". Ever since I first heard them they have had a solid place in my playlists. Now you may not be fans of Electronica, I don't think I really was till I heard them. If you have the chance check out the cuts "Seventeen", "International Dateline" and "Destroy Everything You Touch". These tracks contrast energetic and upbeat synth tracks with more dark lyrics. They are firmly entrenched in the Synthpop genre but they combine this with New Wave sensibilities. Musically they are definitely the children of 80s.